TRYNGITES EUFESCEXS, BUFF-BEEASTED SANDPIPEE. 507 



tlie sides of the lower mandible, and all the way into the intenamal space. In any 

 plumage it may be recognized by tlie unique coloration of the primaries, which are 

 silvery-gray or white on the inner webs, beautifully and curiously mottled with fine, 

 wavy, black tracery. It has many names, both generic and specific, but appears to 

 have been first described by the voluminous French ornithologist above cited. 



This species I have uever yet seen alive. Its habits, as described, 

 appear to be most like those of the Bartramian, in its preference for 

 dry fields and plains, -where it feeds upon grasshoppers and other in- 

 sects. In the United States, -where it is only kaown as a migrant, it 

 appears to be nowhere very abundant, and this is particularly the case 

 along the Atlantic coast. But great numbers nest in the Anderson 

 Eiver region, as shown by the large series of eggs in the Smithsonian, 

 and these must pass through the United States along some line of mi- 

 gration, where the species may yet be found in abundance. Dr. Cooper 

 calls it "common" at Shoalwat'er Bay, during the migration. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Giraud, "the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is not a very common 

 bird, though its occurrence is by no means unusual. Almost every 

 season a few are observed along the sonthern shores of Long Islancl, 

 and during autumn we occasionally find it in our markets. * * * * 

 In August, 1841, 3Ir. Brasher met with a party of five on the shore of 

 Gowannus Bay, which number is larger than I have seen in one group. 

 He informs me that they appeared very gentle, allowing him to advance 

 within shooting distance without seeming to notice his presence. At 

 the first discharge of his gun (which procured him three), tlie sur\iviug 

 two made a short flight over the water, returning in a tew minutes to 

 the shore, at a short distance from where they had previously taken 

 wing, which gave him an opportunity of securing the whole number." 



Of the very rare and scarcely known eggs of the Bufi'-breasted Sand- 

 piper I have examined about a dozen sets in the Smithsonian, all col- 

 lected by Mr. MacFarlane in the Anderson Eiver region and along the 

 Arctic coast to the eastward. They are very pointedly pyriform. The 

 following measurements indicate the size, shape, and limits of variation: 

 1.50 by 1.03; 1.48 by 1.10; 1.45 by 1.02 ; 1.40 by 1.04. The ground is 

 clay, sometimes with a slight olivaceous or drab shade, oftener with a 

 clear grayish cast, of rather peculiar shade. The markings are ex- 

 tremely bold and sharp, though not heavier than usual. Taking a speci- 

 men in which the markings are most distinct, we find heavy blotches 

 and spots of indeterminate size and shape all over the egg, but largest 

 and most numerous on the major half of the egg, of rich umber-brown, 

 deeper or lighter according to the quantity of pigment. Xearest these 

 blotched varieties come the splashed ones, in which the markings mass 

 more heavily about the larger end, and are elsewhere splattered over in 

 rather small markings. This is the more frequent pattern; and in some 

 cases the splashing hides the gTound-color at the large end. Other ex- 

 amples are spotted with rather narrow markings that seem to radiate 

 from the large end, becoming largest and thickest around the greatest 

 diameter of the egg, and being much smaller elsewhere. All the eggs 

 have the usual neutral or stone-gray shell-markings, and in most of 

 them there are at the large end a few spots or scrawls of blackish over 

 all the other markings. According to the labels, the nidificatiou is not 

 peculiar, the nest being a slight depression of the gTound, lined with a 

 few dried grasses or leaves. The eggs axe four in a majority of instances, 



